Desk-chair.



e w. WEMPLE & R. H. B-ENHAM.

DESK CHAIR.

APPLICATION F lLED SEPT. 3, :915.

Patented Aug; 14, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

K II H] [770672 fars:

time ss GEORGE W. WEMPLE AND ROY H. BENHAM, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNEQOTA.

DESK-CHAIR.

Application filed September 3, 1915.

v To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. VVEMPLE and Roy H. BENI-IAM, being citizens of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Desk-Chairs, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

Our invention relates to universal desk chairs and has for its object to provide a desk chair which may be adjusted to accommodate children or adults. In carrying out our invention we employ a chair with a desk attached to one leg, which desk can be raised and lowered relative thereto and provide the chair with a revolving seat capable of being advanced and withdrawn to and from the desk, as well as a platform which can be raised and lowered relative to the seat. 1

The full objects andadvantages of our invention will appear connection with the detailed descriptionthereof and are ticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, illustrating the application of our invention in one form,

Figure 1 is a side elevational sectional View of our improved chair with the parts adjusted to accommodate a child. Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the chair as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3- is a side elevational view of the chair taken from the opposite side to that shown in Fig. 1 with the seat withdrawn, the desk raised and the platform lowered. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the desk top folded back and the seat rotated away from the desk top. Fig. 5 is anelevational view of the chair similar to Fig. 1 but with the parts arranged as shown in Fig. 3. i Fig. 6 is a plan view of the chair as shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the chair as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 8 is a rear elevational sectional view taken on line 88 of Fig. 6.

The chair or lower portion of our invention; is best shown in Figs. 1, 6 and 8. A

rear leg 41 is secured to a front leg 43 by means of lower and upper rails 44 and 45, and a rear leg 42 is similarly'securedto a front leg 16 extending up above the remaining legs. The sets of legs thus formed are secured together by side members 46 and 47 a bottom member 29 and a top member 48, which all told forms a box or shelf extending between the two sets of legs and Specification of Letters Patent.

par-

Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

Serial No. 48,846.

having open ends in between the rails and box thus formed are covered by curtains 30 secured to the inner sides of rails 45, which iapx may be used for storing booksand the The desk proper is best shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 8. A desk top 21 has bolted to the underside thereof a bracketed casting 22 through which extends a bolt 49 having its head lodged between two of ribs 50 of said casting. Bolt 49 extends through a slotted hole 51 in leg 16 and is provided with a nut 52 having a series of holes 23 in the pe riphery thereof adapted to be engaged by a rod 58 for turning the same. A plate 54 is screwed on the leg 16 about the slot 51 and serves to protect said leg against the action of the nut 52. By this means the desk top 21 can be raised or lowered upon the leg 16 to be positioned at any desirable height.

' The lower portion of casting 22 is seg- -mental and is provided with a number of notches 36. A bent lever 31 is pivoted to the upper portion of casting 22 and is adapted to engage any of the notches 36 and extend beyond the same. WVhen said lever is placed so that it engages one of the notches 36 and passes into the slot 51 as shown in Figs. 5 and 8, the desk top 21 is firmly fixed in the angle desired and raising and lowering of the same can be accomplished without disturbing this fixed angularity.

A11 ink well 24 is provided which is attached to the side of the leg 16, as shown in Fig. 3'. Altering the position of the desk top hence does not affect the position of the ink well. The desk top 21 has cut in it a groove 40, as seen in Fig.6, which may be used to hold pens and pencils, and said desk is further provided with a guard 38, as seen in Fig. 8, secured to the edge of the desk by means of screws 55 which pass through oblique parallel slots 56 in said guard. It will readily be comprehended that if this guard is slid on the screws 55 it will be raised or lowered relative to the desk top and can hence be made to project above the desk top or rest flush with it.

The seat of our chair comprises a seat proper 17 to which is secured a back 117 in the usual manner. A bolt 57 having a head 20 countersunkflush with the seat 17 passes through it and through a slotted hole 39 in the top member 48, as seen in Fig. 1.

A ball bearing 58 is mounted upon the bolt 57 for supporting the seat 17 for rotating motion and rests in a rectangular depression 59 in the member 4E8, along which it can slide. Accordingly the seat 17 and back 117 can be advanced toward the desk as well as rotatedupon the bearing 58. The bolt 20 is provided with a thumb nut 35 by which the lower member of the ball bearing can be locked to hold the seat from sliding motion in any position desired. To make the seat continuous in all its positions, a device similar to the curtain on a roll-top desk is employed. A number of strips 19 are glued to a flexible back 60 secured to the end of the seat 17. As the seat 17 is advanced toward the desk top the strips 19 fall back on the member 46, shortening the distance between the back 117 and the edge of the seat.

In order to make the device just as convenient for a child as for an adult, a platform is provided which may be adjustably positioned upon the legs 16 and 43, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 8. A snap or door bolt 26 is secured to each end of the underside of the platform 25 and is adapted to engage any of a number of holes 28 situated in the legs 16 and A3. A U-shaped rod or supporting member 27, having hooked ends, is adapted to engage some of the holes 28 and passes under the platform 25, where it may lodge in a number of grooves 61 cut in cleats 62 to hold the platform in a horizontal or angular position. The platform may thus be conveniently raised or lowered or completely folded up, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4:. To prevent the platform from tilting in the wrong direction a peg 37 is provided in'the same which limits the motion of the U-shaped member 27 in one direction.

An upholstered cushion 18 having a solid back 63 may be adjustably attached to the back 117 by a bolt 33 passing through a slotted hole 32 in one of the slats of said back. A child can hence comfortably lean back against the back 117 even though its head does not extend above the top of the same.

Our invention may. be most advantageously used in schools and similar institutions. For all the children a single size of chair is hence required which may be adjusted to comfortably seat any child, thus overcoming the difficulty encountered by having different sizes of children in the same" class. This chair may also be used for adults in an auditorium by folding back the desk top and platform and by drawing back the seat and removing the cushion, thus giving an ordinary comfortable chair.

We claim:

1. A chair comprising four legs, a top secured thereto at adult sitting height above fixed to said seat and adapted to move with auxiliary back rest slidably mounted on said back for vertical movement thereon. v i

2. A chair comprising a frame having a top provided with a longitudinal recess and a central slot formed on the upper surface thereof, a plateslidable in said recessfa complementalplate mounted on said firstnamed plate for rotation relative thereto, a seat positioned on said second plate, a bolt passing through the seat, the plates and through the slot in said frame top and having a shoulder engaging said lower plate for permitting the seat to rotate at all times upon the lower plate, and means for securing said bolt upon the underside of the frame top to deprive the seat of longitudinal sliding. 1

3. A chair comprising a frame having a top, a seat slidably and rotatably mounted on said top, a back fixed to said seatand adapted to move with it, and means secured to said seat and formedcontinuous with it for foreshortening the seat as the same is slid along the chair. top. r

4. A chair comprising a frame'having a top, a seat slidably mounted on said top, a backrigidly secured to said seat and slidable with it, means secured to the front of the seat normally in the plane thereof adapted to be supported on said top and to drop below it in part as the seat is advanced along the top to foreshortentheseat,

and meansto lock position. a V

5. In combination'with a chair, a rigid seat mounted thereon, a plurality of slats hingedly connected together and to said seat at the front end thereof, a support under said seat and said slats, some of said slats extending beyond the support and depend ing therefrom, and means for holding the seat in adjustedposition upon the support to permit any number of the slats to extend beyond the same and so varythe width of the seat. V

6. A chair comprising a top, a seat slidably and rotatably mounted thereon,a back the seat in any adjusted it, a plurality of slats hingedly connected to the forward end of the seat and adapted to be supported by said top and to drop below it in part as the seat is advanced along the top to foreshorten the seat, said top be- 1 30 ing of a Width sufficient to support all of of tWo subscribing Witnesses, on this 31st said slats when the seat is rotated through day of August, A. D. 1915.

ninety degrees from the line of advance- GEORGE W. WEMPLE. ment thereof regardless of the previous ad- ROY H. BENHAM. 5 justment of the seat. WVitnesses:

In testimony whereof We have signed our ERLAND LIND, names to this specification, in the presence FRANK E. LEE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

